While the United States is experiencing a boom in its semiconductor industry, following the passage of the CHIPS Act, this rise in the semiconductor trade is being threatened by an impending labor shortage.
Oxford Economics and the Semiconductor Industry Association released a report in July showing that there are expected to be 85,000 new technical jobs available in the industry by 2030. Still, the report projects that up to 80% of these available jobs may go unfilled.
Slowdowns in immigration are proving to be one of the main factors leading to the labor shortage, with foreign workers making up one-third of the semiconductor industry’s labor force.
Taiwan’s TSMC, which was scheduled to open a plant in Arizona in 2024, revealed that a shortage of workers has led the company to postpone its opening. “While we are working to improve the situation, including sending experienced technicians from Taiwan to train the local skilled workers for a short period of time, we expect the production schedule of N4 process technology to be pushed out to 2025,” Chairman Mark Liu explained.